Ongoing Heritage from Peter Drucker

DRUCKER: ENDURING WISDOM FOR TODAY’S LEADERS

Posted on June 17, 2015

I mentioned to an associate that Peter Drucker’s’ teachings seemed to be linked to my own personal brand.  The response, fearing that I would be deemed obsolete in today’s rapidly changing world of Millennials and hipsters, was “you don’t hear much about him lately”.  Although I admitted that Peter was not in the nightly news headlines or in the “strategy du-jour” hot list of business remedies, I pointed out that he is being followed.   And the following seems to be in top places.

I recall authors such as Jim Collins, author of Built to Last among other books, suggesting that his first book might as well have been simply titled “Peter Drucker was Right”.   That may be the truth but that title might not have sold many books.  Other thought leaders like Charles Handy and Tom Peters have had similar sentiments.

Frances Hesselbein is another enduring example.

Frances Hesselbein received a call to head Girl Scout Troop 17 in Johnstown, Pa., in her early twenties.  She led the troop for eight years and eventually moved to the state level in York, Pa. There she implemented management guru Peter Drucker’s philosophies — which she had stumbled upon while browsing Johnstown’s Cambria Free Library.

In her own words,

‘I had read everything Peter Drucker ever wrote. In 1970, on my first day as CEO of the Talus Rock, Pa., Girl Scout council, I showed up with six copies of Drucker’s The Effective Executive under my arm — one for each staff member. In 1981, as CEO, I went to the University Club in New York City to hear Peter speak, knowing I would never get to talk to him in that mob. Growing up in Johnstown, Pa., 5:30 means 5:30. I was alone with two bartenders, and I turned around and there was a man standing behind me. And he said, “I am Peter Drucker.” And I was just stunned — I forgot my manners. Instead of saying, “How do you do?” I said, “Do you realize how important you are to the Girl Scouts? If you go to any one of our 335 Girl Scout councils around this country, you will see all of your books — you will see your philosophy alive.” And he said, “Tell me, does it work?” I said, “It works so wonderfully that I’ve been trying to get up enough courage to come to Claremont, Calif., and sit down with you for an hour.” He said, “Why should both of us travel?” He gave me a date when he would be in New York. After that, he generously gave his time as an adviser and dear friend to the Girl Scouts. He adopted us.’[Fortune, Nov 7, 2011]

After turning around the Girl Scouts using the famous “Five Questions”, she formed the Peter F Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management and “Leader to Leader”.  The Peter F Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management came to be renamed The Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute.

Not surprising today you will find it’s website , (http://www.hesselbeininstitute.org/#!5qs/c14h2 ) , now offers an updated reprint of Peter Drucker’s “Five Most Important Questions: Enduring Wisdom for Today’s Leaders”.   Clicking through the convenient icons for Barnes and Noble, or Amazaon.com takes you to ordering this book.  By sending a copy of the order confirmation to Frances Hesslebein’s site gets you an attractive “To Serve is to Live” pin and an autographed photo of her and a handwritten thank you note.

The book is endorsed by Google Board of Directors Alan Mulally and others and includes modernizing feature sections to help connect “what was written” in the original with right now.

“This enhanced edition is just in time for a world that so desperately needs to serve! Peter Drucker’s Five Most Important Questions continue to be the indispensable questions any organization or start-up must ask itself if determined to serve and be part of the future.”

– Alan Mulally

Google Board of Directors, former President and

Chief Executive Officer of the Ford Motor Company

Joan Snyder Kuhl’s research with and coaching of thousands of Millenials (http://whymillennialsmatter.com) has revealed where Peter Drucker’s philosophy and insights match Millenials needs and expecations both as employees and customers.

It’s as if, Peter was again ahead of his time and speaking to the values of the Millennials before they existed.  It seemed to me that the emphasis on knowledge and learning to learn, questioning and searching for the “why”, and how to contribute and make a difference fit right in with the crop of new leaders as well as those who have decades of learning Peter was right.

I often wonder how Peter did it.  He believed management was a liberal art and pulled out all the stops going deep and wide.  As a student who listened to his amazing lectures I saw that his ideas were rooted in a wide swath of history, literature, arts often dipping into all of it here and in there in the course of the lecture only to return to a summary and conclusion making his key point almost like a good mystery story that is completely solved at the end.

It’s been reported that he studied Kierkegaard in depth by learning to read his works in their original Danish.

For another example, his perspective on leadership goes back to the ancient Greek writer Xenophon’s Anabasis that tells of a battle that began around 410 BC.   In fact he deferred to it as a seminal work on leadership in his writing until later.  Evidently that was such a good source on leadership and the territory of battle that Alexander the Great used it as a field guide in his own conquest of Persia.  But that’s another story.

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Reference Material

Industry Week, Peter Drucker Lends a Hand to Millenial Onboarding,May 14,2015

http://www.industryweek.com/leadership-five-questions

“Learning from Peter Drucker and the Girl Scouts”, Colleen Leahey, Fortune November 7, 2011

The Hesselbein Leadership Institute http://www.hesselbeininstitute.org/#!5qs/c14h2

Jim Collins     Drucker Centennial 2010   https://youtu.be/tgvijeQJmm0

Tom Peters   https://youtu.be/lA09tzoPR4k

Charles Handy    https://youtu.be/KrR-OUSCWjE

Bruce Rosenstein has a blog about this same updated book that includes answers to his interview with Frances Hesselbein. 

brucerosenstein.com/frances-hesselbein-on-peter-druckers-five-most-important-questions

WHAT NON PROFITS CREATE: Changed Lives

CHANGED LIVES: WHAT NON PROFITS CREATE

I was attending a Drucker Re-Union in Claremont.  It was a casual and warm day in Claremont, California.  At this, Drucker Day at Claremont, I overheard Peter Drucker talking about the nature of non-profits. We were seated in a row waiting for the group photo session to end and enjoying some time conversing or just listening.

He was talking about a discussion he’d had with a friend.  His friend was struggling with the notion of zero profit and the definition of such enterprises called nonprofits.  His friend was more accustomed to the "for profit side" and free enterprise and business definitions such as market and business segments.  Often enterprises that are “non-profits” are all lumped together.  His friend found the “zeros” on the balance sheet were not satisfying his need to comprehend the motive of the non-profit.  More than motive is the question "What are your results?".

He said “The purpose of the non-profit was to change lives”.

( and a "For-Profit enterprise the purpose was to create a customer".)

It’s not just about accounting magic leading to a balance of income and outgo that leads to zero profit.  In these days when nonprofits are being urged more to operate like a business, this is a good reminder.

Like so many other things I heard in the classroom with Peter Drucker from 1973 until I completed my MBA in 1977, it stuck.  It was such a simple thing yet it was like turning on a light.  It wasn’t obvious until it was.

Peter Drucker is often referred to as “The Father of Management”.  He preferred the term “social ecologist”.  He saw business as a co-habitant in our society along with government and a host of non-profit social providers.  He equally could be viewed as the father of non-profit management.

Like many of his students, his ideas changed my life.  I found it obvious yet challenging that when seeking answers to the tough challenges in business; you must begin with the right questions.  I often found his ideas not only very insightful and inspiring, but also very challenging.  Like a student of Mozart, I found his lessons could make you work very hard, but the results were worth it and what my employer needed.

As a professional product marketing manager dealing with technology based products, I found his insight useful.  I hope to continue this blog, perhaps monthly.  I have other experiences to relate and lessons learned.  Feedback is appreciated.

David Barnard

Drucker MBA 1977